INCREMENTAL
WONDER
Fourteenth
of fourteen devotions in Gethsemane series
Matthew
16:24-25: “Then Jesus said to His
disciples, ‘If anyone would come after Me, he must deny
himself and take up his cross and follow Me.’”
This
Easter, why not celebrate the risen Savior with a sacrifice of your own? We saw how Jesus was severely beaten,
bloodied to almost beyond recognition.
He could barely walk up the hill to His own death.
He never wavered once. His face had been resolutely set on going to
Jerusalem—knowing that He’d soon be with the Father (Luke 9:51). His disciples tried to get Him to avoid
Jerusalem. Every time they went there,
something weird happened.
But this time, it would be worse
than anyone imagined. Yet, Jesus
fulfilled everything—every law of God—that was foretold in Scripture about Him.
Jesus was betrayed, arrested, denied,
accused, tried and sentenced to death. Death
on a cross. !!!
He took all of our sins—past present
and future—with Him. He took our curse with Him. Galatians 3:13 says, “Christ redeemed us from
the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.” Whoever believes in Jesus as Savior and Lord
are forgiven, free of the curse AND declared righteous!
Because He rose from the dead!
HALLELUJAH!
Now it’s Believer’s turn. Let’s show Him our love and gratitude.
Take Home Nugget
“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses
his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:26). These words are hard to understand, and even
harder to do! What are You asking of me,
Lord?
The awesome incremental wonder of
changing me into Your likeness has me shell-shocked.
May I feel the rough wood of the
cross with each thought, word and action I take. Help me to realize that You are with me,
living in me. May I follow Your Spirit
to live my life by faith. Lead me to do
what You would do, since You’re right here with me. Your Spirit lives inside me, transforming me incrementally
to be like You.
A wonderful WOW!
With every sinful thought, remind me
of Your transforming wonder of living through me. Stop my responding harshly to attacks, since
You kept silent before false accusers.
Help me to stop thinking more of
myself than I should. Remind me that You
emptied Yourself—taking on the role of a servant—finding Yourself in appearance
as a man.
End my selfishness, since You gave
all of Yourself for me. Before death,
You forgave Your executioners, gave paradise to a thief and a son to Your
mother.
You awe me, Jesus!
Incremental wonder: Your Spirit transforms
me to be like You! Help me to continue
dying to myself every day.
Adapted
from “The Death and Resurrection of the
Self—A Prayer.” Dr. Charles
Stanley. March 21-22, 2015. In Touch magazine. Georgia, USA.
J.D.
Griffith
Most Recent eBook by J.D.
Griffith:
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment